One in five halt giving and volunteering since cost-of-living crisis

Around one in five fundraisers and volunteers have stopped taking part in fundraising or giving up their time for good causes since the start of the cost-of-living crisis, research has found

This found that 21% of people who regularly fundraised before the cost-of-living crisis have now stopped completely. Meanwhile, 18% of volunteers have ceased working for charities.

Those continuing to back good causes are also cutting back on the time they can give.

A half of regular fundraisers have cut back, while a third of volunteers have reduced their hours.

Almost half of charity supporters say they are not contributing less to good causes, this is despite three in ten admitting they are “unsure about the impact” of cutting back on support, according to the research by investment firm Rathbones.

It found that before the cost-of-living crisis volunteers estimate spent around nine hours a month working for charities on average.

Many charity supporters are unsure when they will increase or resume supporting good causes.

Half of fundraisers say they are unsure “when they will be back to normal” and just over a third of volunteers do not know when they will return to pre cost of living crisis levels of volunteering.

However, Rathbones says its research does indicate “some bright spots among the gloom”, with more than a quarter of fundraisers stepping up their support for charities since the crisis, while around one in 12 volunteers have increased their hours.

The research is based on a survey of more than 1,000 UK adults, which took place in May this year. Eight in ten of those questioned donate to charities and 167 reported being service users.

“The UK economy as a whole is still feeling the impact of the cost-of-living crisis and that has inevitable knock-on effects for charity fundraising and volunteering,” said Rathbones head of charities Andy Pitt.

“The scale of the cutbacks is very worrying, as if fundraising and volunteering activity is down, this will have a direct impact on the income they can generate and may impact on the services they can deliver.

“What we have seen from working with our own clients is that charity investments are being
used to plug the funding gap, and it is more important than ever that they make the best use of their investment portfolios to ensure they can continue to deliver vital services for their beneficiaries.”